Pin and retaining member.



G. C. MURRAY.

PIN AND RETAINING MEMBER.

APPLICATION FILED APR-3, I914.

1, 175,550. Patented Mar. 14, 1916.

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\ MENT COMPANY, ,A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

PIN AND RETAINING MEMBER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 14:, 1916.

Application filed. April 3, 1914. Serial No. 829,382.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, GEORGE C. MU RA a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cook and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Pins and Retaining Members, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to. improvements in pins and retaining members, and has for its object to provide a pin for pivotal mounting or connection of necessary elements such as railway brake beams and levers and the like, together with a retaining member ca able of'easy attachment thereto, but which may not be displaced from said pin when once attached thereto without requiring considerable trouble or its.

destruction.

A number of accidents have resulted in railway operation, due to the displace ment of pivot pins securing brake rods and levers together, owing to the accidental loss or theft of the cotter pins which are ordinarily used to secure such pins against removal.

My invention comprises the provision of a new form of pin with which coacts a retaining member, as I term it, which, as stated above, may be readily attached to secure the bodies or elements on the pin which may not be accidentally displaced therefrom.

These and other objects will be set forth and made apparent in the following specification and accompanying drawing, in which: I

Figure 1 is a perspective detail of a brake beam lever connection showing my device in assembled relation; Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the pin with the retaining member thereon; Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the blank from which I form the retaining member showing in dotted lines the position to which the fingers are ordinarily bent; Fig. 4 is a plan view of the same; Fig. 5 is a perspective of a modified form of retaining member, and Fig. 6 is a detail showing the same attached to a pin.

Like numerals refer to like elements throughout the drawings, in which 10 designates what I term a pivot pin having the flange or head 10 at one end thereof. Adjacent its other end I taper a portion indicated'by numeral 10 to -provide a portion of reduced diameter, thereby forming a head lO having the shoulder 10 The head 10 is preferably tapered or of a frusto-conical contour adjacent its outer end, as indicated by numeral 10 for a purpose to be hereinafter described. acting with the pin 10 is what I term a retaining member 11. This member, in the form shown in Figs. 1 to 4, comprises a collar portion 11 having inwardly directed fingers 11", which are bent to project out- Wardly from the collar portion 11, as indicated for example in Figs. 1 and 2. By selecting proper material, such as steel or phosphor-bronze, the fingers l1 will possess a spring-like characteristic, owing to the character of the material.

The use and operation of the device is illustrated, for example, in Fig. 1, where I have shown brake rods 12 perforated at their ends and inclosing a brake lever 13, the end of the latter being located between the ends of the former, and all three being apertured for pivotal mounting upon the pin 10. When the same has been placed upon the pin the retaining member 11 is forced over the tapered end 10 the springing quality of the fingers 11 permitting their being forced over the head 10 and after passing over said head they will spring to seat in the portion of reduced diameter of the pin 10, as clearly shown in Fig. 9-. The ends of the fingers 11 will be adapted to contact with the shoulder 10", and when side force is applied to the collar portion 11 of the retaining member 11, these fingers 11 will, by virtue of their contact with shoulder 10 prevent displacement of the collar 11 and serve to retain the beams 1213, or the like, on the pivot pin. This provides a positive locking arrangement with which careless assembling is impossible and with which disassembling is practically'impos-v sible without destruction of the retaining member 11, by chiseling off fingers 11 or going to the trouble to bend them outwardly to enable their slipping over head 10. In any event, accidental displacement of the collar 11 is impossible.

In Figs. 3 and 4 I have illustrated a convenient way of manufacturing the retaining members 11 by utilizing a disk A and punching the same to provide the three in- .the peripheral flange or collar 15 at one end thereof. The sleeve or thimble 15 is suitably slotted to permitbending inwardly of'the finger 15. This sleeve, of course,

' may be constructed by spinning or the like from a single piece of metal, but I find it 1 convenient to construct the same of a flat 15 plate, rolling it to cylindrical shape. Fur thermore, the split 15* will serve to add re siliency or spring action to the "thimble. The arrangeinentis similar to that shown in the preceding figures, the thimble 15 being 'of a size to permit its slipping over head 10 to the position shown in Fig. 6, the

finger 15 being capable of springing out to slide over the head and springing back to the position indicated in Fig. 6. This arrangement not only provides a suitable retaining member, but also'provides a thimble which mayta'ke up wear ordinarily received by the pivot pin 10.

It will be obvious that my device is susger-beingarranged to slip over said shoul-v der when said member is placed on said pin and to coact therewith to prevent removal of said member therefrom.

2. In combination, a pin having a shoulder, a retaining member-having an aperture permitting slipping of said member over said shoulder, and a plurality of fingers projecting inwardly relative to said f ap'erture, said fingers being arranged to slip over said shoulder when said'member is placed on i said pin and to coact therewith to prevent removalof said member from said pin.

7 In testlmony whereof, I have 'subscrlbed my name.

I GEORGE C. MURRAY.

' Witnesses: I Y

' HENRY A. Burns,

EDYTHE M. ANDERSON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for 'five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, T

Washington, D. G. 

